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Gift Wrapping 101 – Tips and Tricks

This post is sponsored by Pier 1. As always, opinions are 100% my own.

I know there are different types of people out there. There’s those who buy a Christmas gifts 10 minutes before their scheduled arrival time at a baby shower or holiday function. Those who meticulously wrap each and every gift, organizing their gift wrap essentials and wrapping paper rolls by length, color, and season, paying close attention to the details. And those who fall somewhere in between.

And Pier 1 has great gift wrapping options for every type of gift wrapper.

I wanted to share some Gift Wrapping 101 tips for every kind of gift wrapper out there. I’ll start easy and get to the more complicated, time-consuming wrapping.

I love the bottle decor and wine bags at Pier 1. You can grab a bottle bag to slip a bottle into. I fell in love with this bottle stole— perfect for a glam-loving friend.

I thought it’d be cute to add a little personalization so I also picked up this shiny monogram ornament. I used some clear tape to secure it to the bottle, under where the stole would go.

And in less than 2 minutes, I was able to dress up a plain bottle of sparkling wine while also personalizing it. See? Wrapping presents doesn’t have to be super difficult!

There’s no shame in putting a gift in a gift bag or favor bag and topping it off with some tissue paper. It still makes for gorgeous Christmas presents.

But to give the gift a little something extra, I stuck a piece of tape to a feather angel wings ornament and put it on the inside of the bag so outside would look a little more thoughtful.

The gift looks a lot better with the added angel wings ornament. Plus, the gift recipient can keep the ornament as part of their gift.

Never underestimate the power of a kitchen towel to use for gift packaging. If you’re giving a smaller gift, say a mug with wrapped chocolates, wrap the chocolates in the kitchen towel.

Then, tie off the bundled up towel, with the chocolates in the center, with some ribbon or a decorative bow.

Top the ribbon with a pretty bow, and you’re all set!

If you’re more into traditional gift wrapping methods, wrap your gift accordingly. (This plaid embossed wrapping paper is beautiful.) Maybe I’ll do a full step by step guide on how to wrap a perfect gift one day, but today isn’t quite that day.

Find a cute gift tag/accessory and tape it onto the box. I chose this jingle bell gift tag. Top it with a bow.

Buying pre-made bows definitely speeds things along. Putting a pre-made bow on plain gift boxes is also a great tool to spice up your gift wrapping ideas and not spend a ton of time. You can also use this method on gift baskets too.

Just throw things together in a gift basket and then add said pre-made bow. Voila.

But let’s say you want to make your own bow. Here’s my favorite shortcut to make your own!

Print this template onto card stock. Trace it onto the backside of the wrapping paper you choose with a pencil, and then cut out the pieces with scissors.

Fold the top piece (the long piece) in on itself and secure it with double tape. Wrap the smallest piece around the center. Then, use a piece of double-sided tape to secure the looped part of the bow to the tails.

To add a little more sparkle to the gift, I grabbed this matching ornament and taped it onto the top edge of the box.

If you have coordinating wrapping paper, you can always wrap the gift in one paper and make the bow with the other wrapping paper.

There is so much that you can do with wrapping paper that can really make a gift look it took you hours to wrap when the reality is it took you mere minutes.

And to help give you a jump start on your own gift wrapping this holiday season and a thanks to Pier 1, I’m giving away a $25 Pier 1 gift card to one lucky winner! To enter, leave one comment stating your go-to gift wrapping method.

Gift Wrapping 101 -- tips for all!

This post is sponsored by Pier 1. As always, opinions are 100% my own.

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41 Comments

  1. Rachel Steck says:

    I love Pier 1!
    My go-to gift giving ‘wrap’ is a bag with tissue and a pretty hanging gift tag.

  2. I love the way wrapped gifts look under the tree, so much more than bags, but I feel like I always buy the most awkwardly shaped stuff, and have to report to using bags against my will! Guess that’s my go-to!

  3. I love wrapped box in traditional paper with a big festive bow from my ribbon stash!

  4. Marti Wells says:

    I love wrapped boxes. I feel it adds to the joy of receiving the gifts. Plus I love the look of wrapped presents under the tree.

  5. Sharyn Wagner says:

    My go-to gift wrap has always been a gift bag and tissue but with these great ideas I am definitely going to try some of them! Thanks for the great post. Pier 1 always has great accessories.

  6. Mary Kaiser says:

    I like to us gift bags when possible, so quick and easy.

  7. My go to is the traditional gift wrap method. I just love the look!!

  8. Michelle Miller says:

    I love gift bags

  9. Jessica C says:

    I’m the meticulous wrapper! Coordinating bows and gift tags, or bags and tissue! I LOVE wrapping and giving gifts … I might currently have 26 different rolls of wrapping paper!

  10. Brown kraft paper with a bow to go with the occasion!

  11. Jessica Heberlein says:

    I am a gift bag hoarder!

  12. Victoria Lewis says:

    I try to use the same wrapping paper for each of our adult kids and their families!

  13. I’m a more traditional wrapper, but I reserve the bows and other attachments for people outside my immediate family. ?

  14. I always go for the bag with tissue. Dressing it up with an ornament is a great idea.

  15. My go-to method is having my husband wrap all the gifts…I am terrible at it and for some reason he’s excellent.

  16. Brenda Peters Cooper says:

    I am a terrible gift wrapper, just ask my kids. My go to wrap is a gift bag, tissue paper and a pretty bow.

  17. K. Nelson says:

    I love wrapping with paper and bows/ribbons! I try to make every gift unique with its own paper and decoration combination!

  18. Amy Harper says:

    I love to wrap all gifts from Santa in wrapping with paper with Santa’s face printed all over it. Write who it is to and then they automatically know it’s from Santa because the paper has Santa on it…

  19. This doesn’t happen often, but I enjoy when I can wrap cylindrical gifts because you can wrap them in paper and then tie the ends off with copious amounts of curling ribbon so it looks like a piece of old-timey candy.

  20. I like wrapping my dogs gifts in brown craft paper. But now I can’t wrap other peoples gifts with the same paper or my dog will open the gift for them!

  21. Gift bag, tissue paper, done

  22. I love to receive a beautifully wrapped gift, so I try to make mine the same! I usually take a day or two (or three!) and wrap, no matter how many times I tell myself that next year I will wrap as I get them!

    I am all about the paper, bows, bags, and love interesting tags and tying ornaments to the gifts as you did above

  23. Susie Wilcox says:

    I wrap most of the family gifts and use bags with tissue for those going elsewhere. I need Tom plan ahead and be a bit more creative like the ones you showed!

  24. Carolyn Cox says:

    Love the look of the little ones as they are unwrapping the gifts. Need to get to Pier 1.

  25. I love to give gifts that are wrapped in beautiful paper with coordinating ribbon and bow. Never thought of Pier 1 for gift wrap, need to get there tomorrow for sure!

  26. Jessica Fox says:

    I like making curly bows with complimentary wrapping paper and also using ornaments. Love gift tags from the Target Dollar Spot!

  27. My go-to gift wrapping method is mixing boxes AND bags, but making sure they all coordinate with my Christmas Tree decor! Every year, after Christmas, I buy gift wrap, bags, tissue, tags, ribbon and bows that will coordinate with our Christmas decor. Then, the following year, I am set and ready to go when it comes time to wrap!!! (With Christmas music playing in the background of course!)

  28. I love wrapping each family’s gifts in different paper. That way, I get to buy and use different papers every year! Sometimes, the rolls are so big, I have left over paper and use it for random gifts outside the family.

    All the while, watching the Hallmark channel. 🙂

  29. I love different types of wrapped gifts. Some with boxes,some wrapped in scarves or other pretty fabrics and if course topped with fancg biws and ornaments. Makes the gifts more personal.

  30. Michelle Yocum says:

    I love wrapping with paper and then use a monogrammed ornament as my gift topper.

  31. Becca Dale says:

    I love pretty papers & curling ribbon for easy to wrap items. I also love the printed Christmas boxes full of pretty tissue paper and a bow. Thanks for showing us how to make our own bows that was new for me!

  32. I usually resort to gift bags because we recycle the ones we get. These were all cute ideas. Would love a tutorial on awkward sizes and fun ways to wrap them. I got my dad a big yard sign and it doesn’t look very pretty the way I wrapped it.

  33. Rana Deeb says:

    I try to using gift wrap whenever I can. Mainly, because as a kid there was nothing better than ripping open the wrapping paper?. If the gift is an odd shape then it goes in a gift bag.

  34. Katherine says:

    I use all of these- minus homemade bows!

  35. I usually keep it simple! But I’m excited to try your wrapping paper bow! Looks beautiful!

  36. I like to wrap and use cute bows and ornaments. I actually look forward to gift wrapping day!

    P.S. Owen is getting bigger and more handsome by the day!

  37. Karen Wineberg says:

    I love to wrap! I think sometimes a bag just makes the most sense because of the shape of the item, but super fun to embellish all the gifts!

  38. Nancy Michael says:

    Beautiful papers + bows made from wired ribbon = beautiful presents. Now to keep my kitty from unwrapping them.

  39. My dad passed away when I was in college but I got my love of pretty wrapping from him. He always used high quality paper and made beautiful bows. This year, with lots of help from my son my gifts look a little less professional.

  40. I have always loved plaid before it was the current trend. (It must be my Scottish heritage!)

    I have a two year old grandson and thought he would love to pass out presents. So instead of using name tags I am going to use picture tags. He can recognize his name spelled but with a picture he can have more fun passing out the gifts.

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